


Almost Maybes

by supercess



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:48:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercess/pseuds/supercess
Summary: Brian and Caiti's story begins with heartbreaks and ice cold beers. But soon they'll realize that relationships end so that a forever love could begin.
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Original Character(s), Kang Younghyun | Young K/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Almost Maybes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theinconspicuousfangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinconspicuousfangirl/gifts).



> I heard Jordan Davis' "Almost Maybes" last night and so brain churned this story out. Sorry if it's a bit unhinged, literally wrote and finished this from 12mn to 3am this morning, I'm so sleepy. Errors are highly likely. Give the song a listen, it's so nice~ Love y'all.

_“I’m sorry, but we’re done.”_

The neon lights shining brightly were a stark contrast to the darkness that he was feeling at that moment. His high school sweetheart just broke up with him halfway through college sophomore year – no warnings, no telltale signs, just ‘done’.

He was there again at the bar where it happened two weeks ago, hoping that she’ll come back and they’ll sort it all out. But all he had been getting were,

“Tears and beers, huh?”

Those were the perfect words to describe it. Brian glanced to his side with a frown, eyes and head already hurting from the alcohol and lack of sleep. The girl next to him stared intently at her draft beer with a frown of her own. She turned to him and raised her glass which Brian reciprocated.

“And wasted years, yeah.” He responded, clinking their glasses together.  
“Yeah, same.”

There was a companionable silence with them emptying their pints.

“How long ago for you?”  
“Two weeks. You?”  
“Today.”  
“Wow. That sucks.”

They clinked their refilled drinks again and stared silently in the distance, both drowning in their own sorrow after being blindsided by a breakup.

“I’m Brian, by the way.” He said as they finished their fair share of stories.  
“Caiti.” She smiled through tears. “Happy Valentine’s day to us, I guess.”

\--  
“Caiti cat.”

He raised a hand to catch her attention and she nodded, giving him an easy smile as she cut her way through the loud juniors. Brian eyed the laptop in her hands as she sat down next to him at the bar.

“A draft for the lady, Trev, on me.” Brian spoke to the bartender before he turned to his friend. “I thought we were drinking?”

“Hello to you too.” She rolled her eyes at him which he just shrugged away. “And yes, we are.”

“Then why am I seeing you hugging a laptop when you should be hugging me?”

“My dissertation’s in my laptop which automatically makes it more important than you, Bribri.” She patted him on the back but did tuck her laptop away inside her bag once their drinks arrived.

Brian raised his pint glass towards her as she did the same, “Tears and beers?”

“And wasted years.” She finished, clinking their glasses together. It was going to be a long night.

It was a two-year gradual build up to their friendship – he was an Economics major while she took English Lit but they both frequented the bar near their dorms and he would just coincidentally be there when she either got dumped, got ghosted or got stood up.

And it was the same for her. For some reason, she had also been there when he was wallowing in self-pity over his high school sweetheart and when he got rejected by another. They seemed to gravitate towards each other whenever one was nursing a broken heart.

“It was the classic _‘it’s not you, it’s me’_ kind of break-up.” Brian recounted as he downed another pint glass, losing count of how many he’s had. He could see her from his peripheral vision, glassy eyed but attentively listening. “At her brother’s wedding.”

“ _Damn_. That’s ice cold even for Kristen.” Caiti commented, “How’re you holding up?”

Brian didn’t even need to answer that as he dropped his head on the counter and felt Caiti rub soothing circles on his back. It took him a few minutes to recover before a muffled response came out of him.

“I feel like shit.” He said. “We didn’t even finish the slow dance.”

He heard her chuckle before drumming her hands repeatedly on his back, finally making him sit up and wipe his tear stained eyes. She grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and paid for their drinks before slinging her bag over her shoulder, dragging him out the door.

The parking lot was lit by the neon sign and was empty except for a few cars here and there including his own. They stopped in front of his car as she placed her bag gently on the hood, getting her phone out and playing a slow song.

Brian let out a quiet laugh as she did an exaggerated flourish before taking his hands and placing both on her waist. She grinned up at him, locking her fingers behind his neck as they swayed gently to the song.

“Hey, if it’s a slow dance you want, it’s a slow dance you’ll get. She doesn’t even know what she’s missing.” Caiti joked, earning a hearty chuckle from him.

“You picked the wrong song.”  
“Good.”

They both laughed as they continued slow dancing in the parking lot with no one around to judge them. Once the song was over, Caiti pulled back a little and placed both of her hands on Brian’s cheeks, wiping the remnants of tears that were there.

“No more tears and wasted years, Brian Kang. Pick yourself back up and get to moving on.” She planted a soft kiss on his cheek and lightly patted it in encouragement.

Brian smiled genuinely at the girl in front of him who seemed to be glowing in the warm light—this girl had seen him in his highest highs and lowest lows during college and he could only say one thing,

“I hope you pass your dissertation.”

She dramatically held her chest, “That’s so much fucking better than an _‘I love you, Caiti’_.”

“Well then, I guess Jordan should take lessons from me.” Brian hugged her tightly as they laughed the drunkenness away.

\--  
“I would’ve accepted an simple goodbye; you know?” She slurred. “But nah, he just _left_ to God-knows-where with whatever plans he’s had that apparently didn’t include me.”

Brian’s heart broke as he stood by the door with a bottle of water and an ibuprofen, watching Caiti spiral down the familiar hole of post break-up drunkenness. She had barged into his condo unit, grabbed a wine bottle and a glass from his kitchen counter, went straight into his room and started crying and drinking her heartbreak away on his bed.

They’ve graduated, got decent jobs and was living a fairly decent life but some things just never change.

“Let it be known from this day forth that I hate Valentine’s day as much as it hates me.” She placed her wine glass on the bedside table and vanished underneath Brian’s duvet.

He sat right next to her on the bed and patted the thick duvet to annoy her into re-emerging out from the depths within. “Remember what you said to me in college? ‘No more tears and wasted years’. Take your own advice, Caiti Lee.”

“I know!” She whined from within the duvet. “But we were together for three years, I thought maybe he was the one. I thought I’ll just come home one day and he’s there waiting for me, just the two of us, and he’ll pop the question and I’d say yes. No fanfare.” Her voice was muffled by the covers as well as her own sniffles.

Brian sighed, “We always think that maybe we have ‘The One’ every time we’re in a relationship. But ‘maybes’ or even ‘almosts’ just doesn’t cut it at this point.”

That made Caiti stick her head out of the duvet and look up at Brian who was leaning back on the headboard with his eyes closed.

“You almost married that one too, didn’t you?” She quietly recalled. Brian chuckled at that and massaged his temple. “Your mom thought you would.”

“Yeah, well. My mom loved her more than I did.” He squinted one eye open at her, “Can we not bring that back up? And can you please come out of there?”

Caiti finally crawled out of the duvet and scooted into Brian’s side, taking his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. “Are we doomed to be heartbroken and unlucky in love for the rest of our lives?”

“Maybe you’re my bad luck.”  
“How _dare_ you. You’re the first one who was dumped before you dragged me into your negative bubble in sophomore year and I’ve been unlucky ever since!”  
“Correction, I didn’t _drag_ you. You invited yourself with a _‘Tears and beers’_?”  
“And you responded with _‘wasted years’_. You could’ve just ignored me.”

He scrunched his nose at that before digging a finger in her cheek which she slapped away in pain.

“But where’s the fun in that, Caiti cat?”

She laughed before a stray tear fell again and all that Brian could do was to place a kiss on her forehead, reassuring her that he’s there. He let her be comfortable as she cuddled closer to him, wrapping her arms around his torso.

“You’re so warm.” She hummed as Brian settled in for the night as well, hugging her back. “Can’t I just have a Brian Kang? You’re so much better than the rest of them.” She snickered.

“You already have all of me, Caiti. What more could you ask for?” He laughed, poking her nose.

“Your heart.” She said before shaking her head and peeking up at him, “I wonder when their beating would match.” Caiti innocently slurred. Brian have always asked himself the same thing.

Brian placed another kiss on her forehead. “They would if they wanted to, and if they do, you can be sure I won’t stop it. Especially since you’re very cute in my standards.” He laughed.

“Oh good, good. This is my peak cute—puffy eyes with snot everywhere.” They both laughed at that. “I’m gonna have a banger of a headache tomorrow, Bri. Don’t wake me.”

“What about work?”  
“We’ll call in sick.”  
“There’s no _‘we’_. We don’t even work at the same company. I’ll drop you off tomorrow. You have content to create, my lovely friend.”  
“I hate you.”

“Love you too, Cait.” Brian said before turning the lights off. She hugged him tighter as he felt her tears soaking through his shirt. He could only run a soothing hand through her hair until she fell asleep, hoping that her dreams are better than her reality.

\--  
“Wow. I can’t believe one of the boys is married now!”

It was the wedding of Brian’s bandmate and friend, Jae, where they just finished their special set list at the reception. Jae and his wife were going around saying hellos to the guests and had finally reached the band’s table with their plus ones.

“And I can’t believe I’m seeing you and Brian together at a wedding again but you’re not the ones getting married!” Jae joked which earned him a light smack on the arm from the lady.

“Caiti, good to see you again!” His wife greeted her with a quick hug which were followed by hugs all around the group as well. “I was so happy when Brian told me you were his date tonight. I haven’t seen you at their gigs that much anymore.”

Caiti shrugged in jest, “Sorry, got busy. And well, I’m all he has. Can’t shake him off of me, to be honest.” She laughed as Brian made a face at her. The missus excused herself for a bit when someone called out to her.

“So you two finally got together, then?” Sungjin, their lead vocalist, chimed in when they were all left alone.

“Oh no, we…”  
“We’re just…”

“Friends?” The four horsemen of the Apocalypse: Jae, Sungjin, Wonpil and Dowoon, filled in for them which made Brian and Caiti blush. They’ve been friends with this bunch for a while when Brian went to pursue his passion for music and they all knew their history. Their dates whom Caiti knew from the gigs she’s been to also giggled at the group.

“Brian _hyung_ , really?” Dowoon grimaced at him and at the situation in general. Brian could only raise his hands in surrender.

“Guys, come on. You know us. We’re Bribri and Caiti cat. We love each other and you know we’re inseparable. We’ve been together like this for almost 10 years now and…” Brian’s sentence trailed off as his friends looked at him expectantly.

“ _Hyung_ , say that again but slower.” Wonpil teased, giving both of them a knowing look.

There was an awkward silence mostly from Brian and Caiti, so both of them were glad when Jae’s wife came back to drag his husband away.

“Dance floor’s open, boys. Why don’t you sweep your dates off their feet and dance the night away?” The missus suggested before leaving.

Dowoon clapped his hands and led his date towards the dance floor, and Brian watched as the rest of them did the same. Sungjin gave him an encouraging pat on the back before whispering,

“Do we have to spell it out for you, KangBra?” He laughed before shimmying away with his girlfriend, leaving him and Caiti standing alone by their table.

It was Caiti who broke the silence by clearing her throat, “Wonpil said to say that again but slower.” She started, pursing her lips in the hopes of hiding her amusement.

“I would but...” Brian honestly said with a tentative chuckle of his own. “Dance first?” He asked and she nodded, taking his hand and letting him lead her to the dance floor.

It felt so natural, having her in his arms with her head resting on his shoulder as they swayed gently to the music. He swore she could hear his heart beating loudly in his chest as he finally said in the slowest and softest whisper,

“We’re Bribri and Caiti cat. We’ve been inseparable for almost 10 years.” He began. “And we do love each other. Very much.”

It took a while before Caiti responded. “I can’t hear you through the thudding of your heart and mine.” She laughed but didn’t look up at him. Brian noticed the red that tinged the tip of her ears. “Wow, are the beats finally matching?”

Brian laughed, remembering the conversation they had two years prior when she was drowning her sorrow in wine on his bed. “I think they’ve been matching for a while now; we were just too cautious to acknowledge it.” He admitted, knowing that this was the longest time they’ve both been single and been together without having a label.

She buried her face in his chest, blushing all the way down her neck. “This relationship development took so long.”

Brian chuckled at that, fully enveloping her in his arms. “Can’t blame us. Ours was founded by heartbreaks so we’ve…never thought about each other as rebounds?”

“Why did you end that as a question?”  
“Because I’m speaking for myself, I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about me as your rebound.”

Caiti pulled back with a frown and hit him hard on the arm which had him guffawing with the face she was making.

“I’m joking, Cait. I know you wouldn’t.” Brian grinned at her, still giddy from the adrenaline of this realization. “So how about it, Caiti? Do you want to try?”

Caiti scrunched her nose up at him before tiptoeing and landing a quick peck on his lips then proceeded to burying her face in his chest again, squealing in the process.

“Sorry, I had to try as soon as I can to confirm if this is just me having a heart attack or is my heart contracting because of you. Can confirm, it’s because of you.” She said in one go, now even redder than before.

“Guess that’s a yes then.” Brian laughed, pulling her close and breathing all of her in. Heart finally settled at the right person.

\--  
 _Hey, can we talk?_

They’ve been together for three years but this was the first time in a long time that Brian had felt nervous. He has been pacing around his unit for the past 2 hours just waiting for Caiti to come back home. He had everything planned out but his heart still wanted to jump out of his chest whenever he thought about where to start.

Finally, the knob turned and in came Caiti.

“Hey.”  
 _“Hey.”_

They both stared at each other before Brian stepped towards her, taking a deep breath. But before he could even begin, he heard her sniffling and saw tears falling from her eyes. Panicking, he ran to her side and guided her towards the couch, hugging her like his life depended on it.

“Hey, wait. Why are you crying?” Brian made shushing noises to calm her down until her crying was reduced to sobs.

“It’s Valentine’s day.” Caiti began to explain, “And you sent me a text asking if we can talk.”

“I did. But why are you crying over that?”

“You’ve been cold to me for weeks. It feels like you’re hiding something.” She continued, still sobbing. She turned to look at him with her reddened eyes as she said, “You’re breaking up with me, aren’t you?”

It took a while before Brian realized what was happening. He pursed his lips to stop himself from smiling and he wanted to kick himself for being so stupid.

“Three years, Bri. I can’t cry to you about this break-up if we’re the ones breaking up.” Caiti burst into tears again and Brian had to envelope her in another soothing hug.

“Caiti, please calm down. I’m sorry but I’m not breaking up with you. What are you saying?” Brian finally said, “Damn, I did choose my words and timing wrong, didn’t I? I’m sorry, I’m just so nervous that I’ve ruined everything.”

Caiti pulled back from him, confused. “Nervous? Ruined what?”

“I’m sorry. You know I’m not that good with surprises and I’ve already started it all the wrong way but,” Brian began. “I just wanted to talk and ask you if…”

“If what?”

Brian took out a small box and opened it, revealing a diamond ring. “If you’ll marry me?”

You could hear a pin drop from the silence in the room.

“I hate you so much.” Caiti cried but from a different emotion this time, Brian hugged her again, still holding onto the ring.

“I know. I’m sorry, you said no fanfare and you’d love it if it’s just us…”  
“I’d love it if you didn’t almost just give me a heart attack. Do it again, but better this time.”

Brian chuckled as Caiti pulled back again and glared at him. He placed a soft kiss on Caiti’s lips before saying, 

“I love you, Caiti. This may have been a long time coming but I kept thinking, I’m glad I met you that night in sophomore year. I’m glad we got our hearts broken. I’m glad for the ‘almosts’ and the ‘maybes’ we found along the way and thank God, they all didn’t work out.” Both of them laughed at that. 

“I’m glad that it sucked at the time because it had just gotten me closer to the one that I’m really supposed to be with. Because if it weren’t for them, there wouldn’t have been a Bribri and Caiti cat. And I promise that there’ll be no more tears and definitely no more wasted years for you and I.”

Caiti’s tears were now full on streaming on her cheeks as Brian kissed them away before pulling back and finally asking,

“So, Caiti Lee, will you be my wife?”  
“Of course, I will.”

Brian smiled as he gently placed the ring on Caiti’s finger. She jumped him and hugged him tightly, falling on top of him on the couch and showering him with kisses.

“The beers stay though, right?”

Brian laughed at her priorities but said, “Of course, it will.”


End file.
